Beazer swings to loss in the third quarter

Atlanta-based home builder Beazer Homes reported a third-quarter loss of $123 million, down from earnings of $102.6 million in last year’s third quarter.

The company saw sales fall 36.6 percent to $761 million from $1.2 billion last year.

The company took charges of $188.5 million for inventory impairments and for abandoning some land option contracts. Home closings fell to 2,666 homes compared with 4,156 homes last year. New orders also fell to 3,055 homes from 4,378 homes last year.

"Operating conditions in the housing industry deteriorated further in the fiscal third quarter and remain very challenging," said president and CEO Ian McCarthy. "Most housing markets across the country continue to be characterized by an oversupply of both new and resale home inventory, reduced levels of consumer demand for new homes and aggressive price competition among home builders.”

Beazer Homes is one of the country's largest single-family home builders with operations in 22 states.